When Joy Came to Stay

by Karen Kingsbury

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I enjoyed this heart-warming story of a Christian woman who goes through the deep valley of depression. Maggie Stovall is the picture-perfect wife of the wonderful God-fearing husband, whom no one would ever suspect of having problems. But Maggie has a secret that is driving her to the brink of insanity, and the hardest part of dealing with it is the admission of imperfection.
The novel touched my heart because I can relate to Maggie, having experienced depression, and the difficulty we have as Christians admitting even to ourselves that something is not right inside of us. It does seem so ungodly to have to get professional help, but as the book points out, God has given doctors the knowledge to help us.
Maggie's descent into depression is quite realistic; my concern with this book is that it all comes out too smooth and tidy in the end. That's fine if you want a heart-warming story. It's just that depression doesn't usually go away that easily, and life isn't so tidy. So, high marks for feel-good value, but some realism is lost along the way. I'm still going to look for more books by this author.
~ Cindy